Chapter 686

For a moment, Su-ho wondered if he had seen it wrong.

But the more moves they played, the more certain he became.

Ah, this man was really terrible at Go.

At first, because the old man had snow-white hair and long eyebrows, Su-ho had assumed he must be some hidden master.

At the very least, he had expected him to be around semi-professional level.

But this wasn't even middle- or high-school club level.

'I only learned Go because of a Gate raid in the past, so it's not like I'm especially good either.......'

Even taking that into account, the old man was simply far too bad.

In the end, unable to endure it any longer, the old man threw down his stones.

"Let's take a walk."

"Ah, yes."

Su-ho quickly fell into step beside him.

The old man remained silent for quite some time.

Naturally so.

Originally, he had planned to defeat Su-ho at Go, then begin the conversation with a benevolent smile.

But Su-ho had been far better than expected, completely ruining that plan.

After they had walked for quite a while, the old man's irritation finally subsided a little, and he spoke.

"Why are you so late?"

"I'm sorry."

"No reason?"

"I'm sorry. I won't make excuses."

"......."

At the words that he would not make excuses, the old man fell silent again.

He had intended to scold him at least a little if Su-ho offered any kind of excuse, but when Su-ho responded like that, there was nothing left to say.

Besides, from the old man's perspective, Su-ho had never actually been in much of a hurry.

He had been watching Su-ho all along, so he knew perfectly well there had been no need for Su-ho to come to him first.

That was why he had only called him now, when the Trait Quest was nearing its final stages.

Because once Su-ho completed the Fairy Blood as well, it was obvious that he would truly become busy.

After walking for a while longer, the old man spoke.

"I'm the last one now, aren't I?"

"If you mean as a succession patron, yes."

"They call me the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City. Ten Thousand Gold City is the name of the forge you saw when you first arrived."

The Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City.

It was the name of ■■■■, the master of the Blacksmith Style whom Su-ho had wondered about for so long.

He immediately greeted him properly.

"I'm An Su-ho."

"Right. Next, you're going to meet the fairies, aren't you?"

"Yes, that's right."

"The reason I called you now is because I thought that if I didn't do it now, there wouldn't be time later. So I hurriedly summoned you while I still could."

"Thank you for taking that into consideration."

"You're my one and only successor. Of course I should. Which brings me to this—why do you think I offered you the position of my successor?"

At the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City's question, Su-ho fell into thought for a moment.

His connection with the Blacksmith Style had begun in North Korea.

The Anvil Gate located in the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

The only reason he had gone there in the first place was to find the hidden piece concealed inside the Anvil Gate.

And after clearing the entire Gate, he learned for the first time that it was possible to have multiple Transcendents as succession patrons.

So he had accepted without hesitation.

He had not known who the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City really was, but more was always better, and both then and now, Su-ho wanted as much power as he could get.

'Simply put, I only accepted the position of successor because I wanted to become stronger.'

Because of that, he had never once considered things from the succession patron's perspective.

He had never thought there was any need to.

He had simply assumed the man had taken a liking to him and therefore offered him the position.

But now that he was actually being asked, he found himself curious.

After all, Sword Demon, Spear Venerable, and Shiva were all beings connected to martial arts.

Since Su-ho pursued strength, it was only natural that he would catch their attention.

But the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City was a smith.

And what was a smith?

Someone who made things rather than fought.

Smithing was not entirely unrelated to martial arts, but neither was it a path that represented martial prowess.

After thinking it over, Su-ho finally answered with some difficulty.

"Do you perhaps need a sword?"

A smile appeared on the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City's lips.

"What made you think that?"

"I thought back to when you chose me. But what I showed you then wasn't my ability as a smith. It was my ability as a warrior. Even so, you offered me the succession, so I guessed that perhaps what you needed wasn't an exceptional blacksmith, but an exceptional martial artist."

At Su-ho's answer, the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City stopped walking.

Then he grinned as broadly as before and answered.

"Correct. What I needed wasn't an outstanding blacksmith, but a strong warrior. That's why I wanted you so badly, even though you had already become another Constellation's successor."

"You must have been in quite a hurry."

"I didn't break any rules, so what's the problem? It's not as though I ever have reason to meet the other Constellations anyway."

He had a point.

Whether they were Constellations or Demi-Constellations, as long as they remained within their own domains, they would have no way of meeting one another unless it was through a Player.

"Is it because of revenge?"

"That's right. Why else would I have specifically searched for a warrior? And among Players, at that."

Su-ho could roughly see the picture now.

"The target is obvious, then."

"We all share the same sorrow. Naturally, our circumstances are bound to be similar."

They began walking again.

The Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City continued.

"In that sense, the Blacksmith Style isn't a technique for becoming a blacksmith. The hammer and necklace I gave you are the same."

Su-ho suddenly recalled the things he had learned from the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City.

The hammer, which had undergone its second release.

The Square Extraction and Square Forge-Welding derived from it, along with its two sockets.

The necklace, which had only undergone its first release.

The Flame of the Golden Blacksmith and the Smith's Furnace derived from it.

Path of the Smith.

Smith's Hammering.

Smith's Eye.

There were more than he had expected.

But according to the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City, all of them existed for battle.

Yet aside from Smith's Eye, every single one seemed better suited to a blacksmith than to a warrior.

"You don't look very convinced."

"It's not that I don't believe you. I was thinking. But if what you've said is true, then everything you gave me should be suited for combat. Yet aside from Smith's Eye, none of it really feels suited to fighting."

"Naturally. For a warrior, the Blacksmith Style was never meant to occupy the main position in the first place."

"Then?"

"The Blacksmith Style is a support method. And among all the support methods capable of helping someone become the strongest, I'd say it's easily one of the finest."

It was exactly as he said.

The Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City's Blacksmith Style did not exist purely for combat.

It was one of the means by which someone who fought could become even stronger.

He continued explaining.

"Smith's Eye is the same. There are countless people who have spent their entire lives fighting, even remaking their own eyes for the sake of martial arts. How could I, someone who spent his whole life swinging a hammer, possibly compete with them?"

"But doesn't Smith's Eye have the ability to see through an enemy's weaknesses?"

Su-ho recalled the information on Smith's Eye from the last time he had checked it.

[ Smith's Eye ]

Grade : A# Eyes that can only be possessed by a successor of the Blacksmith Style.

# Also known as the Smith's Eye, when activated they allow the user to observe a target from a smith's perspective.

# The target's most vulnerable part becomes visible.

# The effect of Smith's Eye applies not only to inanimate objects, but also to monsters.

Smith's Eye had started at B grade, and upon reaching A grade, its effect had expanded beyond inanimate objects to monsters as well.

From then on, it had become possible to use it properly in combat.

The Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City answered.

"It certainly has that ability. But Smith's Eye is exactly what its name says—the eye of a smith. It's an eye that lets you view a target not from the perspective of someone who fights, but from the perspective of a smith. Do you understand what that means? It lets you judge a target not simply as an enemy, but as something to be harvested."

"Ah?"

The exclamation escaped him belatedly.

Only then did he understand.

The "vulnerability" referred to by Smith's Eye had never meant a weak point like a vital spot in the first place.

It literally viewed the target as material and provided information on how that material could be harvested most easily.

Su-ho's brow furrowed.

'Come to think of it, that was true. There were definitely times when I looked at something with Smith's Eye and a place that clearly seemed like a vital point wasn't marked as vulnerable.'

Puzzled by it, he had even directly attacked the vital point and the marked vulnerability separately to compare the damage.

The results had differed every time.

Some enemies took greater damage when Su-ho struck the location he himself had judged to be vulnerable, while others took greater damage when he struck the point shown by Smith's Eye.

He had wondered whether it was an error, but there was no way the System would make that kind of mistake, so he had continued activating it out of habit.

Yet because the results varied every time, he had rarely done anything with it beyond merely activating the ability.

Now, at last, that mystery had been solved.

"Think back to the Blast Furnace Dragon. How were you able to deal with that scorching creature? Did you inflict massive damage on it through the Blacksmith Style?"

"No. I increased my fire resistance using the fragment I harvested through the Blacksmith Style, and that allowed me to fight it."

"And that wasn't all, was it? It was the same with Fairy Dragon Gomes. Did you use the Blacksmith Style to fight Gomes?"

"No. I killed Gomes through another method, then used the Blacksmith Style to obtain a Rune from Gomes, allowing me to acquire part of the Fairy Hunter's power."

"Exactly. That's what the power of the Blacksmith Style is. The Blacksmith Style examines enemies and the environment through the eyes of a smith rather than a warrior, then draws out new possibilities for victory. That is the true power of the Blacksmith Style."

The Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City stopped walking and looked at Su-ho.

"You are certainly strong. And you'll probably become even stronger in the future. But there is always a sky above the sky, and a universe beyond the universe. Someday, you'll encounter a wall that stops you. But each time that happens, the Blacksmith Style will draw an answer from your enemy and your surroundings. That's why I believe you absolutely must learn the Blacksmith Style to the very end."

Su-ho nodded.

"I understand now. The more powerful opponents I face, the more I've felt an uneasiness I couldn't quite put into words. But as you said, Elder, if I have the Blacksmith Style, I feel like I'll be able to find a way through any obstacle."

He meant it sincerely.

He had felt it especially whenever he undertook a Trait Quest, and if what the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City said was true, it seemed the Blacksmith Style could fill the gap behind that uneasiness.

At Su-ho's answer, the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City smiled deeply.

"I'm glad you understand. Then from now on, let's take some time to properly learn what the Blacksmith Style truly is."